Thursday, February 01, 2007

On a Lighter Note

While we wait for the next addition of Kevin's story, I'll write something with a bit less emotion attached.

Happy February! It's 4 degrees F this morning - we got a dusting of the white stuff again yesterday, with more supposed to come. There was a rather humorous story on the front page of one of the Denver papers this morning - a neighborhood was tired of waiting for the city to arrive and clean their streets, so their Homeowner's Association agreed to pay to hire someone private to come and do it for them. As the big rig arrived, the city rig was right behind it, telling them they couldn't do it - it was against city ordinance - oh, the irony! I guess the mayor jumped in (hoping to be re-elected next time) and said they're going to ditch that ordinance for the time being and let people clear their streets on their own nickel. They are discouraging jackhammers, though, because of the damage they may do under the ice! I wonder if the ground hog will see his shadow tomorrow!

A blizzard of another sort is on my desk - yesterday was the deadline for the applicants for our master's degree program in social work. Oh, my, the drama that causes. I get calls from people who just learned about us and make a plea for an exception to the deadline. Sorry! I already have WAY too many applicants for our spots, so it wouldn't be fair to them to let you apply late. So sad. There is much panic as some of the universities didn't cooperate very well in getting the transcripts to us on time, or the people they asked to do reference letters for them didn't understand the gravity of the situation and the deadline - frustrating for the applicant, and for me.

Yesterday was Anakin's 9th birthday. I love the fact that Care Bear was as excited about his birthday as he was, if not more! She took Romans 12:15 (New International Version) very literally: "Rejoice with those who rejoice." She told her pre-school teacher it was her brother's birthday was the next day the minute she got to school Tuesday. She made him a card at school. She wanted to get him something when we stopped at Wal-Mart yesterday. We picked up a good snack for him. She wanted to take it home and wrap it, but we were on our way to pick him up from school, so I hid it. She fell asleep as we waited for him to come to the car. Feisty spilled the beans that we had a surprise. Anakin couldn't wait, so he gently woke up his sister to find out what it was. She decided she couldn't wait either, so she presented him with a package of 8 little Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. His favorite! How did I guess that? She was so happy. Of course, the promise of Chuck E Cheese for the evening's entertainment and some pizza was a high point of the day. We didn't get to go this time, so we'll have a celebration at our house this week-end. He'll probably end up with 4 parties before it's all over.

I'd better hush for now and get some bills sent off before I hit that mess on my desk. Have a wonderful Thursday!



15 comments:

Nancy said...

As I look forward to the next chapter in your son's story, it made me laugh to read the politics of the snowmovers in Denver. Very funny! Good luck with the paperwork.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Some blogs are letting me comment today, some are not. Looks like your may be one of the ones I can actually comment on. We'll see...

Happy Birthday to Anakin! Nine is such a sweet age for little boys. :-)

We got about 3 inches of snow yesterday, the first of the season for us. Yay!! Snowcream!! Not so yay for the homeowners and the city. :-)

Hope you get a lot accomplished today, Dawn. Happy Thursday. :-)

Diane Viere said...

There's nothing quite like the joy of a child's birthday! Have fun at all of those birthday parties!

Diane

TJ said...

that was sweet of Care Bear!!
:-D
stay safe in the snow!!

Unknown said...

That was so sweet of Care Bear!

Linda said...

That does sound like a mess of work Dawn. I'm sure you're about ready for winter to be over too. We had a beautiful 66 degree day here today - but I won't mention that :)
How sweet that your little Granddaughter can rejoice for others. I think that's a special gift.
Enjoy the parties!!

Danielle said...

I hope things warm up for you! Happy Thursday to you too!

Pear tree cottage! said...

Dawn your work load sounds huge!!! but you know what the saying is down here "if you want something done give it to a busy person" I guess that goes for you for sure.

A lovely birthday to Anakin, gosh nine what a lovely age.
Lee-ann

kpjara said...

That darn groundhog KNOWS NOTHING!

Pamela said...

Chuck E Cheese was one of our family's favorite places to have b-day parties! What fun! Sweet that your granddaughter Care Bear has such a kind loving heart!

Happy Birthday to Anakin! I will try to stop and visit Kristen and comment for the millionth time on Kevin's post, my laptop keeps overheating and shutting off constantly. I need to get a jump drive and save everything in case it bites the dust.

Cheryl said...

How sweet, the innocence of childhood!

Linda said...

Thanks so much for the comment on my sister Dawn. I try not to feel angry, but I see the pain in my poor mother's eyes every time she talks about her. Birthdays, Christmas, mother's day, father's day - they all go by without a word from her. The perplexing thing is - it is totally out of character. She is such a sweet person. I can't figure it out except to think that she is being influenced by people who are totally missing the mark. She assured us she was being counselled by Christians. I can't understand anyone advising her to treat her parents in this way.
Sorry - didn't mean to go on and on. I probably should have emailed.
Thanks again Dawn.

Susie said...

I had trouble commenting yesterday. Brrr you're really cold and that blizzard of paper work sounds like it could be stressful!
The birthday celebration sounds like it will make for a fun weekend!
hugs!

Anonymous said...

It was good to hear from you, and I look forward to hearing the rest of your son's story.

Barb said...

For heaven's sake, I can't believe they wouldn't let people clear their own streets when they obviously can't handle getting it done. Dumb.

Thank goodness my almost son-in-law got his paperwork in on time. It still blows me away that his application is sitting on your desk. I'll tell you, it blew him and Mandy away when I told them I "knew" the person who's desk it ended up on, through blogging.

What a sweet girl she is - making her brother a card. Hope he enjoys ALL his parties! :-)